UPDATE: Nomura Downgrades Atmel to Neutral on Near-Term Challenges

Nomura lowered its rating on Atmel

from Buy to Neutral and reduced its price target from $8 to $5. Nomura noted, "Lack of revenue growth and increasing competition in touch are headwinds in the near term. Given our view that consensus estimates still need to come down, we think multiple expansion is not likely in the next few quarters. We are lowering our EPS estimate for 3Q from $0.07 to $0.06, and for 4Q from $0.14 to $0.10. For 2013, we lowered our estimate from $0.60 to $0.48, assuming 4% top-line growth. We are lowering our price target from $8 to $5, which is based on 10x our CY13 estimate." Atmel closed at $4.72 on Tuesday.